- play a player out of position: Greenwood, James, Dalot
- buy a cheap prospect - very few top prospects are 'cheap'!
- buy an experienced player - probably not good enough, also a big risk.
- bring in a loanee - like we did with Ighalo
I fancy options 4 and 2 combined - the least risky and least expensive options. We need 2 players for every position. Currently we don't have a proper right-winger at all.
I'd prefer
Option 5 which is just be to buy a really good #10 anyways so that one of Pogba and Bruno can be sitting and we still have 2 central midfielders who can really create at a high level, or one to come off the bench if it's Fred and Bruno/Pogba starting.
Grealish or Maddison are the obvious ones, but Eriksen is having trouble getting a clear starting spot under Conte at Inter is interesting. He's at 25 in 38 for Denmark over his last 4 years. And Inter seem to like our entire squad too. Dalot a potential fit for a 3-5-2.
That could be a loan too, it's easier to find a quality #10 than a winger on loan, since they are generally tough players to fit in, though we seem a potential fit for one with talented goalscorers who struggle in build up play.
and then we get Sancho in 2021, which we'd have to feel confident about to not just sign a RW this summer.
Actually now that I think about it, Havertz is the real best option for this:
Rashford---------Martial
------------Pogba-----------
----Pogba--------Bruno---
-------------Fred-------------
and he replaces Pogba if he leaves and we sign Sancho next summer. Or he takes Martial's job as a false 9.
In theory it could even be a good enough midfielder of any kind. For example, plugging in a time traveling Andrea Pirlo (ironically a deep playmaker of real quality maybe being the only type of player harder to find than a top winger):
Rashford---------Martial
------------Bruno-------------
----Pogba------Fred------
-------------Pirlo-------------
would be a fine if uncomfortably 90s style front 6, with Greenwood, James and McTominay playing the great majority of the other front 6 minutes and either veterans like Ighalo (we'd need another winger, strike or #10 of some kind on loan like him) and Matic getting basically all the rest.
For
Option 1, I'd add that people don't really mention Rashford as an option on the right but James-Martial-Rashford or Martial-Greenwood-Rashford are both possible if one of James or Greenwood makes a big leap.
Sometimes works for a direct right-footed player to do well at RW, like if James is just a breakout starting quality player then maybe Rashford can be a better Callejon and James get close to a typical Insigne season, though even if James breaks out he's still perfect as a 3rd winger covering both sides.
Alternatively, if Greenwood is ready to join Anelka, Rooney, Fowler and Owen as 19 year old Premier league strikers who were certainly good enough to start for us, even if that's as a 9 and not out right, I think Martial out left and Rashford out right could be fine for a year, if again, we're waiting for Sancho.
I wouldn't include a McTominay breakout season and playing a 4-2-2-2 with him and Fred in midfield and Bruno and Pogba proper free to create for 2 of our forwards since that would open up a huge question of depth in midfield and we'd end up having to abandon it unless everyone stayed miraculously healthy AND Hannibal (or Bellingham if he joins) immediately stepped in as a starting quality midfielder like Cesc was at 17.
TLDR: If we can't sign Sancho let's just buy Havertz and use him as a false 9/10 for a year and then a bunch of other less good ideas.
